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Facebook posts lead to arrest of sexual harasser

A single post by a woman from Beersheba about anonymous man who exposed himself to her led to 26 responses on Facebook by women who experienced similar incidents and arrest of the perpetrator

Women in a several Beersheba neighborhoods are breathing easier today. A man who was accosting women and exposing himself to them has been arrested. A post on Facebook broke the silence and led to the suspect’s arrest. On Monday the man was remanded.

 

The incident that led to the writing of the Facebook post took place last week. A 24-year-old student and resident of the city, the woman who raised the subject on the social networking site expressed to Ynet on Monday her satisfaction with measures taken by the police.

 

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“On the day of the incident, they arrived quickly, and on the same day, one of the officers called and said he would like for me to come and file a formal complaint," she said. "They asked that I try to indentify the man through a database of photos."

 

In her post, A wrote, “Yesterday evening, I was sexually harassed, in neighborhood B as I was returning from the university, around 8 p.m., at the entrance to my building – the place that is supposed to be the safest place to be. An older man around 50, with a Middle Eastern appearance – dark skin, grayish-white hair, relatively smooth and parted in the middle, around 170cm tall."

 

"He began to follow me quickly up the stairs of my building, I looked back to see what was going on, and I saw that he was unzipping his pants, and coming closer to me in big steps….I didn’t see what happened with him – whether he was scared off by my yells, or if he continued coming after me.”

 

The young woman added that in the end she decided to report it to the police, and officers arrived within five minutes. “But unfortunately, they did not find anything, because I waited for such a long time. Today I found out that he is a known harasser. I understood from other friends who were harassed that we were speaking of the same man, the same act, but they either did not file complaints, or like me, they did so too late.”

 

The posts were passed onto the Beersheba police and more than 20 women joined the Facebook thread, describing how they were accosted in the same area and under the same circumstances.

 

Yesterday a suspect was arrested who fit the description given by the women. The police say the suspect is cooperating in the investigation and has tied himself to the incidents. The head of the office of investigations in Beersheba, Superintendent Amnon Korolker said, “The incidents came to our attention by way of the office of the mayor. We received information and opened an investigation and afterwards the suspect was questioned.”

 

At the moment, the police have four formal complaints, but they are trying to reach other women who had run-ins with the suspect in neighborhoods A and B, and in the Metsada neighborhood in Beer Sheba. “The main complainant gave us the contact details of ten other women who are willing to cooperate. We are at the beginning of the investigation and believe there are more women who were effected," said Corolker. 

 

"At the moment we have 26 reports by women who posted on Facebook who had experienced similar incidents, but not everyone has agreed to file a formal complaint,” he added.

 

A told Ynet, “The police knew of the incidents. At first I wasn’t sure I wanted to do anything with it, but the day after the incident I spoke to other women in the neighborhood and understood it was a familiar occurrence. It angered me that no one was doing anything. I didn’t want it to continue, so I decided to publicize the incident – also to show other girls that it exists and they were not alone."

 

Added A, "I wanted this to find its way to senior authorities so that this would put pressure on the police. I ask that every woman who has experienced something similar to report this to the police. It is important that as many women as possible complain so that he will not be freed due to a lack of evidence.”

 

 

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פרסום ראשון: 04.08.13, 13:39
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